Bleeding Hearts, Silver Linings
by PJ XD
Summary: Kate Hale's decision to go it alone with her unborn baby wasn't one she made lightly. Riley's abuse still haunts her, but with the support of her family, Kate feels like she can give baby MJ the love he deserves. But what about the love Kate deserves? Can she ever get over her traumatic last relationship to love again? Dr. Garrett Knox might be her salvation... canon w/NYILY K/G AH
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Hello, there!**

**This fic is something I just fancied exploring. I'm probably biting off more than I can chew, but since I'm completely immersed in the world of New York, I Love You every time I sit at the computer, I couldn't help but think that this story was one I also wanted to tell. I'm pretty sure it won't be the only spin-off from my E/J fic either. **

**If you've read New York, I Love You, or Deep In The Heart of Texas, and I'd be surprised if you're reading this and you haven't… well, you know how important a character Kate is to the story. And I kind of want to explore her journey to a HEA too. **

**I hope you like it.**

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_**Prologue**_

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"Katrina Hale?"

The voice pulls me out of my reverie. I've been staring at the same damn poster for the last twenty minutes, lost in thought. It's one of those posters of all the babies lined up in a row, butt naked and with their backs to the camera. Some of them have their little faces peeking over their shoulders.

They're cute as all hell.

I kinda wish Jay wasn't busy with packing up all his shit for his move to New York next week. I could really use him here to hold my hand, and make me laugh by pointing out which of the kids in the poster is the ugliest.

Rosalie grips my knee, reminding me that my name has just been called by the nurse.

Oh, yeah…

I gather my purse up off the seat next to me, slipping it over my shoulder. Rose opens her mouth in protest, and I think that she's actually going to try and take it off me for a second, convinced that I shouldn't be carrying anything heavy 'in my condition'. Wisely, though, she decides not to try and divest me of it, because she knows that I'll just end up unleashing my inner hormonal bitch on her.

I'd love to say that my inner rage issues are a result of my pregnancy, but in all honesty, it's just a convenient excuse. I've always been volatile.

"This way, hon," says the nurse as I reach her, giving me a kindly smile. I return it half-heartedly as I brush past her into the doctor's office. Truth be told, I'm nervous about this scan, just like all the others. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop every time they tell me that he's doing just fine in there.

My little MJ…

With difficulty, I maneuver myself into the chair in the center of the room, propping my feet up in the stirrups. Rosie takes a seat in the hard, plastic chair beside me, so that she has a good view of the ultrasound picture when it comes up on the monitor.

That chair is traditionally used for the baby daddy.

I don't have a fuckin' baby daddy. Not anymore. I hope the bastard is rotting away in some disgusting hidey-hole with his crackhead buddies, trying to outrun the cops that are all over his abusive ass.

Riley fuckin' Biers. That's a name my little MJ will never hear, if I can help it.

"Where's the doc, Theresa?" I ask, when I realize that Dr. Getty isn't actually in the room with us, like she usually is. "She ain't usually late."

"Oh, Dr. Getty is out sick today, sweetheart," Theresa gives me another matronly smile. "But Dr. Knox will be takin' over today." She pauses. "You might like him, hon. All the girls think he's a real fox." With a wink that's entirely disturbing on a woman her age, Theresa lets herself out of the room.

"Ooh, so you're gettin' a cute doctor?" Rose teases, grinning.

"Apparently," I sigh. "Not like it'll matter, though, seein' as how I'm the size of a fuckin' planet."

Well, that, and I have no interest in men. With the exception of my brother, his cutie-pie boyfriend Edward, and Emmett, my little sister's bear of a boyfriend, there's no love lost between me and the opposite sex. Oh, and another massive exception being my little man growing inside of me, of course.

Still… dating prospects? Not interested.

Not after what Riley did to me.

The door opens again, and in walks Dr. McDreamy himself. I suck in a surprised breath. He _is_ incredibly good-looking. He's young, too – I bet he's only in his mid-twenties. Tall, lean, with broad shoulders and sandy brown hair, he's totally my type. His coloring should remind me of that fucker Riley, but he's too tan to draw a comparison. Plus, his eyes aren't all watery blue like Riley's. They're a soulful deep brown. His strong jaw is covered with stubble, and a wide, infectious grin highlights his very prominent dimples.

Yeah, Theresa was right. Total fox.

But I'm still not gonna go all weak at the knees or anything like that.

Men are scum.

"You must be Katrina," he says, in a deep, smooth voice that somehow manages to be soothing and buoyant all at the same time. His accent suggests Texas, but it's muted. He's a big city sorta guy. He steps forward, holding out a hand for me to shake. "I'm Dr. Garrett Knox. I'm taking over from Dr. Getty today."

I slip my hand into his, and he shakes it with a gentle but reassuring grip twice before releasing it back to me. "It's Kate," I reply. "Not Katrina."

"Oh, sorry." He turns his dark brown eyes onto Rosalie. "And I'm assuming that you must be Kate's sister?"

"Rosalie," Rose introduces herself, looking slightly flustered. She shakes his hand, too, giving him a goofy grin that I make a mental note never to tell Emmett about.

"It's a pleasure." He turns back to me, rolling out the stool and the tray with the scanner and gel on it. He sits beside me, turning up the wattage of that infectious grin. "Shall we have a look and see how your baby is doing?"

Obediently, I roll up my shirt. I tense up when he rests his hand on my belly, like I do whenever any man comes into contact with my bump. Desperately, I fight the urge to curl myself over in order to protect MJ.

"Just relax, Kate," Dr. Knox murmurs, and his voice is actually like a balm to my frazzled nerves. I feel the tension leave my shoulders, bit by bit. He smiles encouragingly. "See? Perfect."

Tentatively, I answer his smile with one of my own. The action seems foreign, but not entirely unwelcome. His glittering brown eyes hold my gaze, looking back at me with transparent honesty, and, for the first time since he stepped in the room, I actually feel totally at ease.

_Okay, _I think. _Maybe not _all_ men are scum…_

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**Let me know what you think!**

**PJ**

**x**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N – Aloha, **

**This story is going to be dual POV, between Kate and Garrett, so that there's a nice, rounded view of everything. **

**And for anyone who is wondering… there will be a nice healthy dose of Jasper and Edward, plenty of Rosalie, Tanya, Emmett, Lillian, and OF COURSE the one and only Gramma. **

**There will also be Carlisle, quite a bit, and some occasional Esme and Maggie. **

**Plus, a whole bunch of new characters that haven't really been part of NYILY or DITHOT. **

**Hope you like it!**

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_**One**_

_**Garrett**_

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I was eight years old when I decided that I wanted to be a doctor.

My little sister Charlotte had broken her arm by falling off the swing in our backyard one day when we were playing, and she started screaming blue murder the second she hit the ground at a twisted angle.

I'd heard the bone snap, and I jumped off my swing and raced over to her side. I picked her up gently, and she was sobbing into my shoulder, telling me that it really, really hurt.

I didn't know what I was doing, but I ran inside and got a dish towel and brought it out for her. I made her a makeshift sling, sort of like I'd seen on the TV, and helped her to carefully put her arm in it. I couldn't find anything to strap it up with, and my mom was out getting wasted with her friends – at four in the afternoon, I know – so I'd sat her on the back of my bike and cycled all the way to the emergency room.

The ER doctor had ruffled my hair and called me an amazing kid. He'd told me that my sling was a genius idea, and that if I ever wanted a job in twenty years, I should give him a call.

I'd watched, fascinated, as Charlotte got her arm put in a cast, and then I'd taken her back home on my bike. She'd given me a big hug, and told me I was the best big brother in the whole wide world for making her feel better when she was hurting.

After that day, I'd wanted nothing else than to go to medical school.

I'd managed it. I busted my ass to get a scholarship, and after four years of pre-med and four years of med-school, here I am. Twenty-six, intern year, and just jumping at the chance to help the sick and needy. I want to be that guy – the one who saves lives and puts band-aids on kids' knees and makes geriatric patients feel appreciated as he sits there and listens to their old stories of the war.

It's what I live for. Healing people. Mending them from the inside out.

When I got accepted to the internship program in Corsicana Memorial, under the leadership of none other than the world renowned Dr. Carlisle Cullen, it was like a dream come true. I didn't think it was possible to feel this lucky.

I'm a surgeon. Or, I will be, after seven years of residency. Pediatrics, hopefully. Surgery is like a shark-infested ocean – all of the interns are ultra-competitive. Most of them want to score a place in one of the 'hardcore' specialties, like neuro or cardio. I think they're all idiots.

Because, really, what's more hardcore than saving kids' lives? Saving the future? Kids are tough. They're resilient. They're brave. They still believe in magic and mystery, and that's a real good thing to immerse yourself in when you spend your adult life in the cutthroat and callous world of medicine.

The other eight interns that were hired alongside me think I'm soft. Knox the pushover. They think I can't handle the pressure, so I'm hedging my bets with an easy specialty when it comes time to pick in a couple of years.

Like I said, they're all idiots.

"Dr. Knox?" A deep voice startles me out of my reverie, and I blink spastically for a few seconds, confused, until my gaze lands on my mentor. He's standing in front of me, clutching a patient chart under one arm and regarding me with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, uh, yeah? I mean, did you want something, Dr. Cullen?"

He smiles. I notice a couple of the nurses at the desk behind him swooning as they squeeze past. My lips twitch as I swallow back my laughter. Cullen, as well as being insanely talented, is a good looking son of a bitch. He's got everyone in this hospital with an XX chromosome wrapped around his little finger after simply smiling and saying 'good morning' in that English accent of his, and I don't think he even knows it.

"I was wondering if you'd fill in down in Obstetrics this morning? Dr. Getty has a few patients booked in for ultrasounds, but she's come down with gastroenteritis, so she's staying at home. It's a bit late notice to reschedule."

I find myself nodding before I even know what I've agreed to. "Sure, I'll do it." Then I process what I've just said. Damn. That means I'll be looking at sonogram pictures while all the other interns chase down surgeries to observe. What a waste of a morning!

But Dr. Cullen is looking at me like a proud father on his kid's first day of school, and he claps one hand to my shoulder warmly. "Good man. I knew I could count on you."

Well… maybe it's worth missing a few hours' surgery to get in good with the boss.

I make my way down to OB, lost in thought. I barely have the reaction time to jump out of the way when a couple of residents come flying through onto the elevator with a gurney. The patient is coding, and one of the residents – Todd something-or-other – has actually hopped up onto the gurney with him to perform chest compressions. I gape at them in awe as they dart out onto the surgical floor as soon as the elevator stops. Now, that's what heroics look like.

I want to get in on that.

Instead, though, I ride the elevator down to the radiology department and get out into a much more subdued waiting-room type atmosphere. An orderly hands me a chart as soon as I announce my presence at the nurses' station, and I find myself getting buffeted over to room A.

I glance down at the chart in my hands, performing a quick information scan. Katrina Hale. Twenty-two years old. She's six and a half months pregnant. She was treated for – holy shit – contusions and lacerations consistent with domestic abuse during her first trimester.

Fuck. She's way too young to have suffered any of that. Not that domestic abuse is acceptable at any age, but still… she was only twenty one years old when that report was filed.

I feel an overwhelming surge of protective outrage, and I haven't even met the woman yet.

I might need to keep my bedside manner in check. It doesn't pay to get too emotionally involved with patients.

I open the clinic room door and step through, shutting it quietly behind me. Glancing up from my chart, I nearly drop the thing in astonishment when I spot the girl sitting in the examination chair.

Holy shit, she's beautiful. Long, pale gold hair, lightly tanned skin, deep indigo eyes that you could just sorta drown in. Her belly is distended, but underneath the pregnancy bump, I can tell she's the sort of girl who has curves in all the right places. The bump doesn't detract from that, weirdly. It kind of adds to it. Pregnancy agrees with her. She's got this sort of glow about her, and I wonder idly if I can get close enough to bask in the light that seems to just shine off her.

_Garrett, focus!_ I chide myself. Putting on my best 'doctor' face, I cross the room and extend my hand to her.

"You must be Katrina." She accepts my proffered hand a little warily, her grip firm. "I'm Dr. Garrett Knox. I'm taking over from Dr. Getty today."

"It's Kate," she says as we shake hands. "Not Katrina." Her voice is throaty, and quite low for a woman. Enchanting, actually. I find myself desperately wanting to hear her speak again.

"Oh, sorry." My eyes flicker from Kate to the other occupant of the room, and I immediately realize that they are related. This girl looks about seventeen, with the same long, flaxen hair and delicate features as Kate. Her eyes are a lighter violet color, and her smile is tentative as she regards me. "And I'm assuming that you must be Kate's sister?"

Really, who else could she possibly be? The girl nods.

"Rosalie," she offers, blushing a little. She shakes my hand when I offer it to her, too, though her grip is a little daintier.

"It's a pleasure," I say sincerely, and then I turn my attention back to Kate. She's watching me warily again, and I realize that her reticence probably has something to do with the fact that she's been a victim of abuse. I increase the wattage of my smile, trying my best to make her feel at ease.

I roll out the tray with the sonogram equipment and a stool for me to sit on, and perch myself on the edge of it.

"Shall we have a look and see how your baby is doing?" I ask her.

Kate immediately begins rolling up her shirt with quick, practical motions. It's as though she's full of nerves, and she wants to get this over and done with as soon as possible. I wonder how much of that is to do with me being male, and how much is to do with first-time mother nerves.

I reach over and rest my hand on the swell of her stomach. Her skin is like silk underneath my fingertips, but she tenses up, hunching herself slightly, like she's trying to curl protectively over her unborn child.

She certainly has maternal instincts, but I wish they didn't stem from fear.

"Just relax, Kate," I tell her soothingly, and I'm surprised when she actually listens. Bit by bit, the tension slowly ebbs out of her. I grin encouragingly, absurdly pleased at even this small amount of trust. "See? Perfect." And she is. Perfect, I mean.

_She's a patient, Garrett. Just a patient. Control yourself, for fuck's sake!_

Her answering smile is tentative at first, but it soon spreads. And when it does, when her dark blue eyes light up like that… she's breathtaking.

I can't look away.

She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

_Oh, I'm in such big trouble…_

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**Just a little taster of Garrett's POV. Don't worry, the chapters won't repeat any interaction after this one. It was just to get a flavor of the good doctor, too :-)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**PJ**

**x**


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